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filming: judas kiss
Aug. 11th, 2010 10:08 pmDoes anyone even read this thing anymore? I mean.. it's mostly my fault since I don't write actual content here anymore, but I do actually want to try and start up again. Anyway, I've been hired to work on a film as second assistant camera. I'll be leaving tomorrow and will be back home in time to dump my luggage and repack for DragonCon (woohoo!).
IN SEATTLE WORKING ON
AUGUST 12 - AUGUST 31
I am hopeful that we will be keeping to an actual schedule and as such I have brought a portable drive filled with many goodies to watch (I am so behind on shows) and plenty of books on my tablet. Also stuff for the plane ride.
My Twitter should be active as on this shoot I will actually have access to things like cell service and wireless and civilization. AMAZING! But since LoudTwitter died and I'm been archiving manually, you'll have to head over to my Twitter page to see what I'm currently up to.
Time to finish up some last minute things then go to bed. Flight out at 8am!
AUGUST 12 - AUGUST 31
I am hopeful that we will be keeping to an actual schedule and as such I have brought a portable drive filled with many goodies to watch (I am so behind on shows) and plenty of books on my tablet. Also stuff for the plane ride.
My Twitter should be active as on this shoot I will actually have access to things like cell service and wireless and civilization. AMAZING! But since LoudTwitter died and I'm been archiving manually, you'll have to head over to my Twitter page to see what I'm currently up to.
Time to finish up some last minute things then go to bed. Flight out at 8am!
vampire diaries: lighting wtfomg.
Jul. 17th, 2010 12:35 amI'm not gonna lie, I love The Vampire Diaries. It's pretty different from the books, and that's okay, because I'm actually enjoying the show much more (even after my griping about the casting and other changes). Damon is, of course, my favorite. Stefan is Broody McBrooderson, but a lot less so than Edward. Uhm, anyway... this post is not about that. It's about the super-annoying cinematography on the show. Some of the shots are quite nice, possibly even cool... but I really wouldn't know because half the time it's so dark, I don't know who's where doing what.
I've been rewatching the show during the hiatus and now that I know the plot, I'm focusing a lot more on the technical stuff. For the last few weeks, I've been griping about the Director of Photography (DP), but I didn't really want to bother looking up who it was.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tirgaya saved me the trouble and told me it was Paul M. Sommers. He's only listed for 13 episodes, but there are no DP credits for the other episodes.
Below are a bunch of screencaps from the first eleven episodes of The Vampire Diaries to show you the stuff that's annoying the crap out of me. (To any cinematographers/DPs reading this - some of my terms might be wrong. SORRY. I need to learn more, obviously.) I did not edit any of these images - I capped them and grouped them in Photoshop. Depending on your screen, they might look better or worse.
( IMAGE HEAVY. SRSLY. )
Actually, looking at all of these Vampire Diaries scenes again, I'm really starting to wonder if they're just working with available practical lighting and not even bringing in studio lights. Which can't be right because... they must be using some, right? They can't possibly just rely on the lights on set. That seems... weird. Then again, the daylight shots look great except for sometimes needing a bit of fill (IDK, get a bounce?) and the other shots look like they were lit with whatever practical lighting they had lying around. Maybe it isn't lighting - maybe it's the camera or the film stock or post processing. I have no idea. Someone with more knowledge could probably go on and on about it.
This concludes my amateur filmmaker criticism of the lighting on The Vampire Diaries. Like I said, I am still a huge fan of the show and I can't wait for the new season to start up. I'm just hoping there is a new DP and the show can stop... looking like that. Because it's kind of annoying and hard to watch at times.
I've been rewatching the show during the hiatus and now that I know the plot, I'm focusing a lot more on the technical stuff. For the last few weeks, I've been griping about the Director of Photography (DP), but I didn't really want to bother looking up who it was.
tirgaya saved me the trouble and told me it was Paul M. Sommers. He's only listed for 13 episodes, but there are no DP credits for the other episodes.Below are a bunch of screencaps from the first eleven episodes of The Vampire Diaries to show you the stuff that's annoying the crap out of me. (To any cinematographers/DPs reading this - some of my terms might be wrong. SORRY. I need to learn more, obviously.) I did not edit any of these images - I capped them and grouped them in Photoshop. Depending on your screen, they might look better or worse.
( IMAGE HEAVY. SRSLY. )
Actually, looking at all of these Vampire Diaries scenes again, I'm really starting to wonder if they're just working with available practical lighting and not even bringing in studio lights. Which can't be right because... they must be using some, right? They can't possibly just rely on the lights on set. That seems... weird. Then again, the daylight shots look great except for sometimes needing a bit of fill (IDK, get a bounce?) and the other shots look like they were lit with whatever practical lighting they had lying around. Maybe it isn't lighting - maybe it's the camera or the film stock or post processing. I have no idea. Someone with more knowledge could probably go on and on about it.
This concludes my amateur filmmaker criticism of the lighting on The Vampire Diaries. Like I said, I am still a huge fan of the show and I can't wait for the new season to start up. I'm just hoping there is a new DP and the show can stop... looking like that. Because it's kind of annoying and hard to watch at times.
filming: phase ii
May. 30th, 2010 10:35 amIt's that time of year again...
See you all when I get back!
See you all when I get back!
new posts: hawaii & polaris shoot
Jan. 19th, 2010 04:12 pmI've just posted two entries of trips that I'd done last year, but never got around to posting. First, is my travel log from Hawaii along with links to photos and then also my experience working on the Polaris set as first assistant camera. Good times. Check it out.
Hawaii: November 26 - December 4, 2009
Polaris Shoot: December 6 - December 14, 2009
Hawaii: November 26 - December 4, 2009
Polaris Shoot: December 6 - December 14, 2009
polaris set report: dec 6 - dec 14, 2009
Dec. 15th, 2009 11:59 pm** also backdating this entry as it's January 19, 2010 right now and I'll never find it again later if I don't. **
I was invited to be on the camera crew for Polaris, an indie sci-fi project being shot near Washington, DC. It was a great opportunity and a good learning experience. I'd already worked with most of the people there at Star Trek: Phase II. Overall, it was a comfortable and creative environment and I would gladly work with these people again either on another Polaris episode or something else entirely.
This report was written on my NIT810 and I'm only editing typos. Sorry for the fragmented structure.
We used the Canon 7D on this shoot. Pretty cool to work with this still camera as a video camera. There are a few weird quirks, but overall, it was quite good and everyone was impressed with the quality.
Sunday, December 6
Mom dropped me off at the train station at 8pm. The train was on time (was afraid of delay due to weather). Was a little annoyed with the person sitting next to me who decided she couldn't stop fidgeting and would flop her crap all over me. I was already only using 3/4 of my space so she'd stop hitting me. Didn't matter. She was also reading LKH's Skin Trade (Why do people still read that crap?) and knitting a crooked scarf in a puke green color. Awesome.
Arrived in NY Penn Station on time. Of all the days I wouldn't mind the train being late.... I bought a snack at one of the few open stores and sat in the Amtrak Waiting Area for about 2 hours before getting up to stare at the board. Was getting a little antsy as the track wasn't listed 10min before departure, so I asked the guy at the counter and he was very nice and told me what track and it would be boarding shortly. Awesome.
I get on the train and pick the car with the loud drunks who obviously live in ashtrays as the whole car stinks, but I've already hefted my luggage in the rack and I couldn't be bothered to move it. I guess I get to suffer for 4 hours.
( rest of the adventure under the cut )
Twitter: dec 6 | dec 7 | dec 8 | dec 9 | dec 10 | dec 11 | dec 12 | dec 13 | dec 14
Photos on Flickr!
I was invited to be on the camera crew for Polaris, an indie sci-fi project being shot near Washington, DC. It was a great opportunity and a good learning experience. I'd already worked with most of the people there at Star Trek: Phase II. Overall, it was a comfortable and creative environment and I would gladly work with these people again either on another Polaris episode or something else entirely.
This report was written on my NIT810 and I'm only editing typos. Sorry for the fragmented structure.
We used the Canon 7D on this shoot. Pretty cool to work with this still camera as a video camera. There are a few weird quirks, but overall, it was quite good and everyone was impressed with the quality.
Sunday, December 6
Mom dropped me off at the train station at 8pm. The train was on time (was afraid of delay due to weather). Was a little annoyed with the person sitting next to me who decided she couldn't stop fidgeting and would flop her crap all over me. I was already only using 3/4 of my space so she'd stop hitting me. Didn't matter. She was also reading LKH's Skin Trade (Why do people still read that crap?) and knitting a crooked scarf in a puke green color. Awesome.
Arrived in NY Penn Station on time. Of all the days I wouldn't mind the train being late.... I bought a snack at one of the few open stores and sat in the Amtrak Waiting Area for about 2 hours before getting up to stare at the board. Was getting a little antsy as the track wasn't listed 10min before departure, so I asked the guy at the counter and he was very nice and told me what track and it would be boarding shortly. Awesome.
I get on the train and pick the car with the loud drunks who obviously live in ashtrays as the whole car stinks, but I've already hefted my luggage in the rack and I couldn't be bothered to move it. I guess I get to suffer for 4 hours.
( rest of the adventure under the cut )
Twitter: dec 6 | dec 7 | dec 8 | dec 9 | dec 10 | dec 11 | dec 12 | dec 13 | dec 14
Photos on Flickr!
life; filming; zombieland
Oct. 13th, 2009 01:27 amHello LJ land. Is anyone still even reading this?
I've been neglecting the livejournal something awful and seem to have replaced it with Twitter. I do feel kind of bad about that since I'm also losing the ability to think in strings longer than 140 characters. Haven't been up to much lately, but seems like I've been doing a lot of film work... kind of.
Columbia Pictures was shooting some car scenes for The Other Guys in Albany at the end of September. I'm told the reason is that you can't drive a car more than 30mph in NYC and it takes decidedly more than that to get a Chevelle through a double-decker tour bus. I was on set for 4 days as an extra and just stood on the street and walked around how they told me. Nothing too terribly exciting and I was far more interested in the equipment they were using than anything else that was going on. On my third day, the 2nd 2nd AD directed me to one of the cars stopped in front of where the bus should be and I was basically put in front of a camera for a reaction shot. So, maybe where the movie comes out, you'll see me step out of a car and gape at the car wreck.
This past week, I was once again in Port Henry working on Star Trek: Phase 2. This time around we were finishing up Enemy: Starfleet. I was 1st AC on this one, which was a good time and I learned a lot more things. Hopefully I can retain that information. The smaller crew was much better this time around, I think - less riff raff, though there were still a couple people I wouldn't have minded doing some violence to. Vic Mignogna came in to direct on Monday (did a good job) and his friend Todd Haberkorn came to be our 1st AD. I have to say, the set ran a lot smoother with Todd there, so I'm hoping he will be back in that capacity next time around. No shoot is complete without a debacle and this time we got two. The first was some ridiculousness where G&E and camera were on stand-by for 7 hours waiting for costumes to be finished and the second.. uh, well, best not to speak of that as it did work out in the end. I think. But still, dramarama, people. Dramarama.
A group of us - me, Alex, Romel, Matt, Chris, and Mark - were able to get out of Port Henry for a few hours to see Zombieland. When I say "get out," I mean we fled that place, speeding like maniacs, to get to Plattsburgh in time to make the film. I think we got there about 5 minutes late, missing the opening. But still - it was an awesome car adventure and a great movie. (Also, really good to get out of PH and away from Trek for a while).
Okay, sure, Zombieland isn't going to be the next classic, but it was highly entertaining. The lines were pretty clever and it was pretty gory without being too bloody, I thought. Not sure how that could be, but I remember smiling gleefully at the gore, but not thinking that the blood splatter was over the top. I kind of hate fast zombies, which these were, and I was nearly shouting at Tallahassee when he kept dropping his weapon every time he killed a zombie. Hold on to those weapons, man! Also, bonus Bill Murray.
This weekend, I'll be going to the Big Apple Con withsmashedrecords then NEFE in November with queenmaab, Liz & Pano. My mother also has arranged a family trip to Hawaii at the end of November, so that should be... interesting. I'm always up for traveling, but sunny beaches and water are not really my kind of destination. Oh well. Once I'm back from that, I'll be heading down to DC to work on another film; a science fiction pilot which I don't have any details on.
And that concludes my sweeping life update. Hope someone found it interesting.
I've been neglecting the livejournal something awful and seem to have replaced it with Twitter. I do feel kind of bad about that since I'm also losing the ability to think in strings longer than 140 characters. Haven't been up to much lately, but seems like I've been doing a lot of film work... kind of.
Columbia Pictures was shooting some car scenes for The Other Guys in Albany at the end of September. I'm told the reason is that you can't drive a car more than 30mph in NYC and it takes decidedly more than that to get a Chevelle through a double-decker tour bus. I was on set for 4 days as an extra and just stood on the street and walked around how they told me. Nothing too terribly exciting and I was far more interested in the equipment they were using than anything else that was going on. On my third day, the 2nd 2nd AD directed me to one of the cars stopped in front of where the bus should be and I was basically put in front of a camera for a reaction shot. So, maybe where the movie comes out, you'll see me step out of a car and gape at the car wreck.
This past week, I was once again in Port Henry working on Star Trek: Phase 2. This time around we were finishing up Enemy: Starfleet. I was 1st AC on this one, which was a good time and I learned a lot more things. Hopefully I can retain that information. The smaller crew was much better this time around, I think - less riff raff, though there were still a couple people I wouldn't have minded doing some violence to. Vic Mignogna came in to direct on Monday (did a good job) and his friend Todd Haberkorn came to be our 1st AD. I have to say, the set ran a lot smoother with Todd there, so I'm hoping he will be back in that capacity next time around. No shoot is complete without a debacle and this time we got two. The first was some ridiculousness where G&E and camera were on stand-by for 7 hours waiting for costumes to be finished and the second.. uh, well, best not to speak of that as it did work out in the end. I think. But still, dramarama, people. Dramarama.
A group of us - me, Alex, Romel, Matt, Chris, and Mark - were able to get out of Port Henry for a few hours to see Zombieland. When I say "get out," I mean we fled that place, speeding like maniacs, to get to Plattsburgh in time to make the film. I think we got there about 5 minutes late, missing the opening. But still - it was an awesome car adventure and a great movie. (Also, really good to get out of PH and away from Trek for a while).
Okay, sure, Zombieland isn't going to be the next classic, but it was highly entertaining. The lines were pretty clever and it was pretty gory without being too bloody, I thought. Not sure how that could be, but I remember smiling gleefully at the gore, but not thinking that the blood splatter was over the top. I kind of hate fast zombies, which these were, and I was nearly shouting at Tallahassee when he kept dropping his weapon every time he killed a zombie. Hold on to those weapons, man! Also, bonus Bill Murray.
This weekend, I'll be going to the Big Apple Con with
smashedrecords then NEFE in November with queenmaab, Liz & Pano. My mother also has arranged a family trip to Hawaii at the end of November, so that should be... interesting. I'm always up for traveling, but sunny beaches and water are not really my kind of destination. Oh well. Once I'm back from that, I'll be heading down to DC to work on another film; a science fiction pilot which I don't have any details on.And that concludes my sweeping life update. Hope someone found it interesting.
